Monday, 3 November 2014

It is, for the most part, a rather stupid government, but given that the MH370 has completely disappeared leaving no trace of wreckage or evidence of having hit the ground at some point, there seems to be more to this than meets the eye.

There has been nothing regular about this flight since it signed off from Malaysian airspace. To accuse the authorities of negligence when there has been no evidence of being able to recover the airplane before it disappeared is ambitious.

It doesn't stop people from embarking upon some criticism though. For instance, some "aviation expert" claims that the plane could have been found if "proper protocols" had been followed.

He conveniently fails to describe said protocols. So much for being an expert.

I can understand that there has been closure for the family of the victims and this must be troubling for them, but the search for the remains of the MH370 has been ongoing for almost 8 months, and to date, no evidence has been discovered.

This is not even a comprehensive list of all those people who have been or are to be charged in court for "sedition".

Of course, in the Malaysian context, "sedition" involves merely speaking out against the ruling coalition, which forms the illegal government of Malaysia that the people did not even vote into power during the last elections.

Those accused of sedition are lawyers, politicians, journalists and activists who have criticised the government in the past.

The sedition law criminalizes speech with an undefined "seditious tendency".

Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director of Human Rights Watch, said the prosecutions were reminiscent of so-called Operation Lalang in 1987 under Mahathir, when more than 100 opposition politicians and activists were arrested under an old Internal Security Act (ISA) which allowed detention without trial.

"The parameters are basically the same - you are using an antiquated draconian law to go after the opposition," he said.

But my respect goes out to the Malaysians, they are uncowered and unafraid of jail, and they are fighting back!

Saturday, 30 August 2014

I had loads of ex-classmates from high school who went on to further their education in the United States. A few years later in the workplace, many of my co-workers had come back to Malaysia to work after graduating.

Many do stay on and work in the USA, but most of them did come back, though with moans and groans about the inefficiency of Kuala Lumpur, civil service, internet broadband and numerous other grouses.

Those who came back were the lucky ones, whether or not they know it.

They may be subject to Malaysia's village idiot brand of racism from the BN government and its stooges, especially the middle-class Chinese.

The Indians occasionally get looked down upon by the lower-class Chinese (those who think they are a bit superior than the rest, and who really, ought to be the victims of the BN government, instead of the middle-class). And a rather alarming number of under-class Indians have been killed by the police while under custody for "questioning", which, by the way, we should constantly be monitoring.

And the Malays? They're forced to conform to peer pressure and social convention on how they should dress, talk, and whom they should spend their time with.

Extremely annoying for those 3 main races - I did not go through the other races from East Malaysia because they generally fall under the Chinese and Malay categories - occasionally fatal, but for the most part, not stressful on a daily basis.

I have ranted against the BN government for this, and called Malaysia a third-world country for its miserably counter-productive mentality.

But nothing compares to the stress that African-Americans go through, living in the USA.

If you ever thought that the US was the bastion of liberty, please end that thought this very minute, for nothing is further from the truth.

In Malaysia, for the most part, the cops are able to tell what social class one comes from, based on how one dresses, talks and carries oneself.

But the white American cops seem devoid of this skill. For them, a black person - regardless of social class, income, profession - is considered a criminal. And they are treated as such.

If you were stopped once a year and questioned by the police, you would not display a defensive attitude towards being under suspicion. But if it happened almost everyday, you would grow weary and start exerting your rights.

He very clearly states that he was sitting on a public bench waiting for his children to come out of their daycare.

He was not causing any trouble at all, and was simply minding his own business.

There was absolutely no reason for him to be questioned.

I am unable to see his face because the camera does not point at him, only the female thug in uniform who is trying to interrogate him. Respectable-looking woman, but nevertheless a thug.

Based on his voice alone, I am able to tell that he is an educated man, and he has a clear purpose for being there: he is waiting for his children.

Despite explaining all this to the female officer, he is still asked to produce identification without being told what his offence was.

Take note here, that if he had indeed committed an infraction of the law, the police officer is duty-bound to inform him at this point.

She does not.

He is then accosted by a male police thug and subsequently arrested with unnecessary use of force.

Later on Facebook, the St Paul police department claim that the man was trespassing.

This is clearly bullshit as there were no signs put up, because the man verbally pointed that out and the female thug did not correct him.

Yet, the police department have brazenly posted "their side of the story" (a complete lie) and blamed a non-infraction on the victim.

At no point was the man trespassing. At no point in the video do I detect any disorderly conduct. The only obstruction of the legal process was committed by the thugs in uniform.

So why are the thugs in uniform doing this? What purpose does this serve?

You know what apartheid is? Segregation? It was alive and well until the 60s. What a depraved society.

What is even more repulsive is that the white majority does not want the black minority to have access to the same privileges that they do. So whenever a non-white person is found in a "white" area, the police are called to remove the "nuisance".

For that reason, submissively complying by producing one's identification is pointless, because they are never interested in who the black person is; otherwise, they would be observing his dress and mannerisms to assess if he was genuinely a threat.

It is all about bullying.

The United States of America is nation that is severely in decline. To be fair, it's the entire western civilisation that is nearing its end.

People have been too obsessively materialistic to concern themselves with how the police behave. And the police think they are above the law.

To call them law enforcement would be to describe them incorrectly, because they break the law, not enforce it.

A lot of Asians who want to live in the US think, "Ah well, that only happens to black people, it won't happen to me."

Think twice.

The former Chief Operating Officer of Napster, Milton Olin Jr, was killed when a police patrol car collided with the bicycle he was riding.

Olin was in his bicycle lane, but the police officer was using his computer while driving and got distracted. He ran over the man, killing him instantly.

However, he was not charged for his reckless behaviour because "prosecutors noted that a state law banning drivers from using wireless electronic devices while driving exempts police officers and other emergency professionals."

Right.

But check out what the police officer claimed at first: "Wood initially said that Olin had swerved from the bicycle lane on Mullholland Highway into the path of his patrol car."

That's a blatant lie because the district attorney's office concluded that “evidence examined in this investigation shows that this tragic collision occurred as a result of Deputy Wood crossing into the bicycle lane.”

The police officer could have stopped his car or parked at the side of the road to attend to his computer. But he didn't, and that resulted in the loss of an innocent man's life.

And the whole time, he was protected by the police department. The people who are supposed to serve and protect the citizens are protecting themselves. Woe betide those who go against them; more so if you're a black police officer.

The US of A is fast becoming a failed state. It is no longer a place to go to fulfill your dreams or raise your children.

We need to make Malaysia that place. We have awoken from our slumber and are more politically aware and sensitive.

It is now just about taking responsibility and bringing out the best in our fellow citizens, regardless of race, religion or creed.

Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Okay, despite all the fear amidst the two tragedies befalling MAS, I still was not expecting this.

I can understand that morale must be low.

The staff are no longer working for what was once known as a fairly prestigious airlines.

The way MAS officials and the Malaysian government handled the crises was less than exemplary. They were defensive, uncoordinated, perpetually confused and clearly unaccustomed to dealing with a tough international media.

Monday, 25 August 2014

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200, registration 9M-MRH performing flight MH-70 from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to Tokyo Narita (Japan), was climbing out of Kuala Lumpur when the crew requested to stop the climb at FL210* due to a technical problem and to enter a holding.

The report goes on to say that the crew subsequently requested a return to KL without giving further details.

They also didn't request any priority or assistance, which obviously indicates that it wasn't a critical emergency.

They then returned to KL for a safe landing about 40 minutes after departure.

The passengers were transferred over to a replacement Boeing 777-200 registration 9M-MRE and eventually reached Tokyo with a delay of 2.5 hours.

The troubled aircraft was then able to resume service 13 hours after landing and the DCA reported that the aircraft could not maintain the needed cabin pressure.

I don't know if everyone is being overly sensitive about any incidence occurring on a Malaysia Airlines flight, but there is an extraordinary amount of reporting on MAS (including that by yours truly).

The president of the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, Indonesia, on Thursday called the actions of Islamic State militants "embarrassing" to the religion and urged Islamic leaders to unite in tackling extremism.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the scale of the slaughter wrought by the extremists in overrunning large swathes of Iraq and Syria and the level of violence being used was appalling.

"It is shocking. It is becoming out of control," he said in an interview with The Australian, a day after IS released a video showing a masked militant beheading US reporter James Foley, provoking worldwide revulsion.

"We do not tolerate it, we forbid Isis in Indonesia," he added, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as IS was formerly known.

This is a nation that openly denounces ISIS/ISIL as an embarrassment and speaks out against them.

Have any Malaysian Muslim leaders done that?

Now tell me which is a moderate Muslim nation - Malaysia or Indonesia?

This is about a small suburb in Missouri, USA, that I had no idea existed - until an unarmed young black man was brutally and fatally shot by a white policeman.

His body was left on the ground for a few hours, as the authorities were deciding what to do with his body, and how to explain his unwarranted and cold-blooded execution.

The young, black victim was a huge boy, possibly not wealthy, not particularly good-looking, but he showed promise academically.

Michael Brown had graduated from high school and was headed for college. His killing aggravated the people of Ferguson who went berserk and started rioting.

Interestingly, this was not unlike the Tottenham riots in London, which were sparked by the police killing of a young bi-racial man, Mark Duggan, whom the police later accused of being an armed drug dealer.

Drug dealer or not, Duggan was found to be unarmed, when the police fired their bullets into him. However, amidst all the confusion, the police attempted to make it sound like the man had a gun and had fired at them.

From Wikipedia:

After the shooting, the media widely reported that a bullet was found embedded in a police radio, implying that Duggan fired on the police. Friends and relatives of Duggan said that he was unarmed. The police later revealed that initial ballistics tests on the bullet recovered from the police radio indicate that it was a "very distinct" police issue hollow-point bullet.

The IPCC later stated that a loaded Bruni BBM blank-firing pistol, converted to fire live ammunition, was recovered from the scene. It was wrapped in a sock and there was no evidence that it had been fired.

On 13 August, the Independent Police Complaints Commission admitted that Duggan did not open fire, stating, "It seems possible that we may have verbally led journalists to [wrongly] believe that shots were exchanged". The bullet that had lodged in an officer's radio is believed to have been an overpenetration, having passed through Duggan's body.

Why am I not surprised that the police always justify their shameful actions by vilifying the victims?

The police in Ferguson are attempting to do just that.

They began by releasing CCTV footage that shows a large, black man (allegedly the victim), stealing cigars from a convenience store.

Now I find it inconceivable that a young man with plans to go to college would want to steal. What more, cigars!! If he stole stationery, I could understand. Mind you, not condone, but understand.

If he stole clothes or money, there might be some logic to the story. Even cigarettes might be explained.

But cigars?

If Michael Brown was indeed the belligerent-looking man who shoved the store-keeper aside as he angrily walked out, it appears that there may have been a story behind it.

What transpires, however, is that the policeman, Darren Wilson, had no idea what Michael Brown was guilty of, if indeed, he had shot him for a criminal offence.

It is more likely, that Darren Wilson had shot Michael Brown because Wilson was on a power trip over which Brown - being educated - was unimpressed.

The interesting thing is that eye witnesses have come forward to say that Michael Brown had raised his hands in surrender and said, "Don't shoot."

Thursday, 7 August 2014

The biggest Muslim country in the world has just banned the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, saying the militant outfit should not be allowed to spread its teachings in the archipelago.

The minister for political, legal and security affairs said that regardless of the situation in the Middle East, support from Indonesia should be in the form of humanitarian aid and diplomacy, not by sending people to fight, which would only make matters worse.

“Let’s not get influenced, and not be easily provoked to join ISIS.”

Good ole Indonesia evidently find ISIS rather despicable and with good reason.

ISIS has proven to be the ultimate scum of the Middle East, making even the Zionists in Israel seem like mere piffle.

The story goes that the Americans trained up the rebels to overthrow Bashar al-Assad of Syria, as they were reluctant to get involved after the trouble they've had with Iraq.

Training and arming these rebels turned out to be a very bad idea.

The rebel militants got round to making a mess in Syria, but they did not stop at that. They have moved on to Iraq, where they have been going around killing the minorities - the Shia, the Christians and anyone else who doesn't conform to their ideology.

It's not a small number, the people they've killed. Some say it's even gone up to 180,000 to date.

Given that Christianity started off in the Middle East, along with Judaism and Islam, there are still significant Christian populations of Arabs.

Or a more accurate word would be 'were', as thousands have fled their homes to take up refuge elsewhere, like Kirkuk and the relative religious tolerance of the Kurdish zone.

Even while fleeing, were they not spared.

The rebel militants robbed departing Christians of their belongings, leaving them to face destitution in grim camps for the displaced. They relieved the refugees of literally everything - from phones, money, jewellery, heirlooms. Everything.

Those who drove were relieved of their cars and were forced to flee on foot.

When the refugees pleaded to be allowed to keep just enough to buy food and get across, they were told that "these are the funds of the Islamic State, and we cannot give it to you."

I vaguely recall reading about the story of a little old lady who asked to be able to keep only $100 and was denied it.

This is Nazi Germany and the blitzkrieg, all over again, just this time in the Middle East instead of in Europe.

Monday, 4 August 2014

They worked for a prestigious airlines, so they did a good job and for the most part, took pride in what they did.

Unfortunately, they depended a bit too much on the government for running their business. From Wall Street Journal:

The union lobbied directly to politicians including Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was then facing fiercely-contested national elections.

For Malaysia Airlines, the carrier has been struggling financially as Asian full-service carriers face a squeeze from aggressive budget carriers such as AirAsia on their short-haul routes, as well as Middle Eastern operators, such as Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways, on longer flights to Europe.

Last year, Malaysia Airlines reported a net loss of 1.17 billion ringgit ($359 million), its third consecutive year of net losses. In the first three months this year, its net loss widened to 443 million ringgit from 279 million ringgit a year earlier.

Let me tell you why they have made such a loss.

Firstly, there is too much crony involvement. Every UMNOputra wants a piece of the pie. But then, there is only so much pie.

MAS is not exactly a cash cow. It is a national airlines and it flies some unprofitable routes that have to be flown for the sake of accessibility.

Are you aware that MAS has shouldered the cost for ferrying phantom voters across from East to West Malaysia?

That is a LOT of money.

But now, the airline employees want to be more involved in how their company is run, even though it has now been delisted and does not require approval for change to be made.

And they even want the CEO to resign.

The main employees' union at Malaysia Airlines says it expects to be consulted on plans to restructure the ailing carrier before any proposals are made, and renewed its demand for the CEO to resign.

The highly-influential union, representing half of the nearly 20,000 employees at Malaysian Airline System Bhd., says it hasn't been approached by the airline's management on any plans to revive the carrier, which is reeling from the loss of two jetliners in five months that has left 537 people dead or presumed dead.

Securing the support of the Malaysian Airline System Employees Union is crucial before any restructuring can occur at the airline, which is 69.4% owned by Malaysian state investment firm Khazanah Nasional Bhd. The union earlier scuppered a share deal with rival AirAsia Bhd.

"We know why they want to restructure, but we have not seen the plan so far," said the union's president, Alias Aziz. "Our priority is staff welfare," said Mr. Aziz, who leads the biggest of eight unions that represent employees at Malaysia Airlines.

It's about time the employees took more interest in the management of their company rather than just the operations of it.

There is no torture porn in there. So if you've wandered in looking for images of men being shot or children losing their limbs, or rivers of blood, you will be disappointed.

But if you are able to reason without bias, you will glean information that you never knew about how Palestinians are being treated everyday.

Contrary to what most people think and/or claim, this is not about religion as much as it is about land.

Many non-Muslims are put off by aggressive Muslim support for Gaza. But I urge you to cast aside your prejudices and watch the video with an open heart and a rational mind.

Seriously my fellow Malaysians, this is getting embarrassing!

It is 2014 - not 1974! We have the internet for ridiculous amounts of information and people choose to forward emails or share Facebook updates of fake pictures: those of Palestinian children purportedly being shot, or photoshopped pictures of bombings/smoke/destruction.

All these do the cause of Palestine a disservice, because the issue is real - Palestinians are being persecuted everyday.

If you thought it was religion-based, here is a bit of information for you:

Malaysia has a Christian population of 9.2% (according to 2010 census).

Palestine has a Christian population of 11% (and some say it's more! Palestinian Christians are treated/persecuted in exactly the same way as Palestinian Muslims by the Zionists. In this aspect, there is no discrimination at all).

Percentage-wise, there are more Christians in Palestine than there are in Malaysia!

If you don't have time to watch the video (because it is an hour long, after all), then I suggest you view specific bits.

Muslims: watch between mins 27:00 to 30:00. Watch it a few times if you have to. Learn what the word 'Refusenik' means. Figure out the difference between Jews, Israelis, and Zionists.

Christians: If you lived in an area that had only one water tank, and people urinated into it and threw dead chickens, in an attempt to make you leave the place, just think about how you would feel. There is a lot said about violent protest in Gaza. Nothing is being reported about non-violent resistance like that espoused by Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi. So watch between mins 43:17 to 50:43 at least.

Not all Palestinians are violent, foaming, mad Jihadists. No more than the Israelis are benign, innocent victims minding their own business.

If you are one of my fellow Malaysians who took to the streets - along with tens of thousands of others - to protest the Malaysian government's use of the ISA on political prisoners, then the fact that 10% of almost 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners are detained indefinitely in Israeli prisons should resonate with you.

I don't do sensation. I like facts, because they speak for themselves.

To be fair to Malaysia Airlines, I am not sure if either of the tragedies that befell them were their fault. No more unlucky than their latest escape, where they nearly crashed into another jet in Adelaide, but managed to stop just in time.

A close call, but is Malaysia Airlines jinxed? Again, it's not their fault.

It is hard to see what the airline itself can learn from the tragedies. The first is still unexplained. The second was not its fault. It was flying over a war zone, but so were other respectable carriers.

Read the rest of the article to understand why a name change is pointless.

I personally think a change in management (though nothing to do with the air crashes) is needed, not a change in name.

Friday, 25 July 2014

Not only are we trying to hog all the attention from the world, but now, even the Scottish Terrier introducing our country refuses to walk during the opening ceremony parade for the Commonwealth Games in Scotland.

Around 40 Scotties took part in the celebrations in Glasgow, with many "recycled" to accompany more than one nation.

But it all became too much for some weary animals and they had to be carried around the stadium.

Jacqui McKinnon said that her pet Jock had auditioned for the star role in the opening ceremony, but when the big day came he unexpectedly staged a sit-down protest.

She said: "The dogs dealt with it really well; it's just Jock decided he wasn't walking. As soon as I put his Malaysia coat on he thought, 'I'm sitting down'. So Jock was the one who was carried around the Celtic stadium."

She said her Scottie was giving the world a taste of the breed's trademark stubbornness.

"They are very good-natured, they have great temperaments, but in Scotland we say they are thrawn, which means they are stubborn", she said.

"And when they take a notion, there is just no budging them. You can try food, everything. They will take the food, but still not budge."

Some may say that the dog staged a sit-down in solidarity with Malaysians over our two airplane crashes in the last 4 months.

Come to think of it, that's the version I'm planning to adopt myself.

But what is utterly irksome is that Singapore's Scottie dog calmly walked along. No tantrums, no fuss.

Nothing like our friendly neighbour down south still trying to show us up. Pooh.

Apparently, Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa takes exception to this display of dogs. I'm really not sure what his point of contention was.

That the dogs were incredibly cute?

That the Malaysia dog staged a sit-down protest solidarity?

That dogs were used as an introductory mascot, and Muslims object to dogs?

That the Commonwealth Games were staged in Scotland and therefore Scotties were used (instead of Corgis, the Queen's favourite breed)?

That they didn't use a monitor lizard just specially for Malaysia instead of a dog? Since we're so uniquely special and all.

One day all things will be made clear and we will understand the mind of that strange critter called Ibrahim Ali.

Tuesday, 22 July 2014

I believe that the worst of times are, ironically, the times of golden opportunity.

Malaysia Airlines has taken such a beating that fewer people would be willing to fly it, save the pragmatic, logical thinkers who know that the disasters have less to do with negligence than with pure bad luck.

However, given that Malaysia Airlines is turning into a white elephant rather than a cash cow, hopefully, the Malaysian government regards it as being a low priority and gives it to a non-crony to manage.

Naturally, as we have seen in the past, when this happens, the airlines has always managed to tighten its belt and leap back into the black after years of being in the red.

It always happens and I am looking forward to it happening again.

Radical change is what we need, and it's not going to happen within our ruling coalition and its cronies. As Malaysians, you and I know that.

The next months could prove humbling for an airline that had grand ambitions. The Malaysian government had high hopes that its national carrier would compete with the region’s best, and invested much money and emotion into building it.

But Malaysia Airlines got badly squeezed in the fiercely contested Asian airline industry. Its cost base is too high to compete with lean and mean budget carrier AirAsia, also based in Kuala Lumpur. At the same time, it lacks the prestigious brand image to raise its ticket prices and take on East Asia’s more premier airlines, such as Singapore Airlines and Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific. As a result, the company has been bleeding for years.

The airline’s Kuala Lumpur–listed parent, Malaysian Airline System, has racked up losses of more than $1.4 billion since 2011. Management has tried cutting costs and improving service to turn around the airline’s fortunes, but such efforts were making only minimal progress.

The sentiments are that of foreign observers and may not necessarily have a pulse on what exactly is going on, but it gives the mood on how fragile the situation is.

Saturday, 19 July 2014

Two major air crashes within 4 months and involving almost 500 people is no small matter.

We Malaysians have barely recovered from the grief of MH370, not to mention the absence of closure because we never found the aircraft. We don't know why it happened.

And maybe we never will.

But why, out of the hundreds of other airlines that fly over the troubled airspace, was Malaysia Airlines yet again selected for tragedy with MH17?

Haven't we suffered enough? Are we being punished for something we did? Have we incurred the wrath of God or the universe?

Why were so many Chinese people killed? And then so many Dutch people? Did they deserve it? Do we deserve it?

Why should conflict between Russia and Ukraine affect innocent passers-by?

So many questions, but so few answers.

UPDATE
A few days after I had posted this, someone from PAS Youth again (previously about the MH370) remarked that this incident was retribution from God (or Allah) for Malaysia Airlines serving alcohol in-flight and its flight attendants (particularly female ones) wearing the uniforms that they do.

Friday, 27 June 2014

I have never broached the topic of Islamic civilisation being taught in history class with any of my Malay/Muslim friends.

In hindsight, I can't think why not. Perhaps I assumed that they approved of the laborious detail with which we were taught Sejarah Islam in Form 4 and then later in university, Tamadun Islam.

Perhaps I did not want to let on that I loathed the very subject of Islamic history, firstly because I didn't believe any of it was true - just grandstanding by the Muslim government to exert their alleged superiority.

Secondly, I had a Muslim history teacher who felt compelled to preach to the entire class how much superior Islam was to Christianity. Til today, I am not sure why Christianity was singled out as there were numerous Hindus, Buddhists and Taoists in the classroom.

Baghdad had become the storied and romantic place it would forever be in popular imagination. Under enlightened, poetry-loving caliphs like Harun al-Rashid, Mansour’s grandson, Baghdad attracted scholars from all the domains of Islam, in keeping with Muhammad’s teaching that educated men are next to the angels and that “the scholar’s ink is more sacred than the blood of martyrs.”

A Chinese method for making paper from flax and hemp appeared in the Middle East at about the time of the city’s founding, and the new technology produced books in quantities impossible before. Almost everybody in ninth-century Baghdad could read and write.

While Europe still moiled in its Dark Ages, Baghdad was a city of booksellers, bathhouses, gardens, game parks, libraries. Harun al-Rashid was the first chess-playing caliph; Baghdadis also played checkers and backgammon.

Translators took Greek works and rendered them into Arabic, in which they were preserved to be translated into European languages several centuries later.

Today, we use Arabic words in our daily conversations: From Baghdad’s best years we get words like “zenith” and “nadir,” as well as “algebra,” “algorithm,” “alcohol,” “alembic,” “alchemy.”

It was a golden era, and while they heard rumours of invasion by the Mongols, they did not appear to be perturbed. The Mongols did eventually show up and brutalise the nation, destroying its buildings and taking away the women.

I think nations never recover from catastrophes like that. I have never understood why nations, be they Mongolia, Russia, Spain, Britain or the USA, feel compelled to invade and destroy. But they do - shame on them - and the consequences are long-lasting.

America has not quelled its war-mongering nature just yet. Apparently, they need to go back into Iraq to "sort things out". The people calling for these measures are mainly Republicans who think that Obama is a coward and that everything could and should be resolved by war.

There is massive brainwashing by Fox News (a Republican-funded news channel that is similar in nature to broadsheet Utusan Melayu) that feeds lies and propaganda to the feeble minds of white Americans who believe everything they're told and support the call for war.

Apparently, the displays of the previous "shock and awe" tactics in Iraq are not enough. For the record, I don't feel any awe, just revulsion. About 10,000 Americans have died since 2003, and God knows how many Iraqi civilians - never mind their military.

It is ironic, however, that the Republicans are happy to send America's youth out to war only for them to return in body bags, but they would never dream of sending out their own children. These people are UMNO to the core.

How will the Middle East ever regain its glory days when they are besieged by so much violence and terror? Saddam Hussein was a bad man with an evil regime, but his assassination has not brought any improvement to the nation of Iraq.

I hope that the people in power today realise that life is a cycle and change can happen when you least expect it.

Like the complacent and possibly cocky Caliph of Baghdad who did nothing despite hearing rumours of a Mongol invasion, an overly confident America should not expect to remain forever in power.

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

I have blogged in the past about London's initiative in encouraging the use of bicycles that could be rented using an Oyster card.

They have been called Boris-bikes, after the mayor (he of the strange hair-style) who claimed to first moot the idea.

I'm not sure how well they've taken, as I have heard reports of inadequate bike paths or paths that just end abruptly, forcing the cyclist to merge with traffic or end up on the pedestrian path.

Either way, it's not good.

Lately, Malaysia has taken up the idea of making KL a bike city, apparently in an effort to emulate Copenhagen, which is deemed to be the first bike city in the world.

There has been a vague mention of building the proper infrastructure to encourage more people to take up cycling.

I can see how this will reduce pollution and the traffic congestion, but if there are no proper cycling paths, then we are just going to have a higher accident rate, or sensible Malaysians will just cast the idea aside as another stupid brainchild of the Malaysian government.

The problem is, I see this as a good idea and would be sorry if it is dismissed.

Car-Free Morning means you don't have big machines trying to mow you down as you cycle about, but it can only be feasible one day of the month (and on a Sunday) as is currently done.

For those of you in the know, Michael Bloomberg was a former mayor of New York City who in an attempt to reduce crime in the city, instated rather racist laws like "stop and search" in which black young men were targeted by the police.

I lost my respect for him then. He later attempted to control the in-flow of guns into the city by regulating them, but that earned him the wrath of the National Rifle Association of America (who are a bunch of nutcases themselves).

Anyway, by that time, it was too late, as both the right wing and left wing hated him in possibly equal measures.

Bill de Blasio appears to have done a much better job so far, but I digress.

Back to the article: Oxford Economics apparently ranks Malaysia the "riskiest country in Asia of those we consider," more so than India, Indonesia and even coup-happy Thailand.

Why, you ask.

Malaysia wasn't included in Morgan Stanley's "fragile five" list of shaky emerging economies last year, as were India and Indonesia.

But Fowler scratches at a number of Malaysian vulnerabilities that deserve more attention: external debt levels that in recent years have risen to close to 40 percent of gross domestic product; a higher public debt ratio than India; the biggest short-term capital flows among the 13 major emerging markets Oxford tracks, including Indonesia; and a shrinking current-account surplus.

I really do take many "financial services" corporations very lightly. After all, they are the ones who predict the strength of economies with grave seriousness - until they are proven to be completely wrong!

They then lose huge sums of money and promptly run to their governments for a bail-out of which the tax-payer bears the cost.

Anyway, the article does have some valid points, which is why I brought it up in the first place:

What really concerns Oxford, and myself, is the complacency factor in Putrajaya. Malaysia is effectively a one-party state, having effectively been ruled by the same party for six decades.

Its 40-year-old, pro-Malay affirmative-action program chips away at the country's competitiveness more and more each passing year.

The scheme, which disenfranchises Malaysia's Chinese and Indian minorities, is a productivity and innovation killer. It also has a corrupting influence on the political and business culture.

"A climate of entitlement amongst the Malay community limits entrepreneurialism and vested interests within the United Malays National Organization still resist change," Fowler argues.

The US has downgraded Malaysia to the lowest ranking in its annual human trafficking report, relegating the southeast Asian nation to the same category as Zimbabwe, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. The move could result in economic sanctions and loss of development aid.

Malaysia's relegation to tier 3 in the US state department's Trafficking in Persons (TiP) report – published on Friday – indicates that the country has categorically failed to comply with the most basic international requirements to prevent trafficking and protect victims within its borders.

Human rights activists in Malaysia and abroad welcomed the downgrade as proof of the government's lax law enforcement, and lack of political will, in the face of continued NGO and media reports on trafficking and slavery.

"Malaysia is not serious about curbing human trafficking at all," said Aegile Fernandez, director of Tenaganita, a local charity that works directly with trafficking victims.

"The order of the day is profits and corruption. Malaysia protects businesses, employers and agents [not victims] – it is easier to arrest, detain, charge and deport the migrant workers so that you protect employers and businesses."

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't give two shits about what the US govt thinks or does not think of Malaysia. The US has Guantanamo Bay, privatised prisons for which there is a must-fill quota; conveniently resolved by the arrest and incarceration of ethnic minorities over minor offenses. They are in no position to moralise.

However, what rankles is that in this instance, they are right in putting Malaysia in the same category as .... Zimbabwe, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. Yuck.

What's the deal with Malaysia then?

"When you Google 'Malaysia', it's among the five worst countries for refugees," said Lia Syed, executive director of the Malaysia Social Research Insitute, which supports refugees.

"There is no policy for refugees in Malaysia at all. They are not recognised, they do not have legal status, they are just considered illegal migrants.

It doesn't matter what country they come from, what their story is, they do not get any support officially from the government."

It looks like we're a country deeply lacking in compassion. Ironically, do you know what's happened? The government has become the Malaysian version of America's GOP or better known as the Republicans whose main aim in life is to figure out new ways to line their pockets at the expense of everyone else.

Number one on the GOP agenda is THEMSELVES. Malaysia is turning into them. No thought could be more revolting than that, in my honest opinion.

That is disheartening, since I am a proud graduate of one of Malaysia's once esteemed universities.

I am not even going to dwell on Singapore's placings (which used to be part of Malaysia) but even territorially unrested Iran's Sharif University has made it to rank number 37, so we should thoroughly be ashamed of ourselves!

Wednesday, 28 May 2014

These are individuals (and sometimes organisations) who have a sense of entitlement, that they "deserve" something or that the world "owes" them the "Right".

Often, these Rights may be constitutional and they cling on to it even if it is clearly wrong, irrelevant and outdated.

They don't care if it is at the expense of others. They still demand their Rights.

Only two years ago, a mentally disturbed young man by the name of Adam Lanza shot 20 young children and 6 members of staff at Sandy Hook Elementary school.

There were vows and promises by politicians that something would be done .... but nothing happened.

And then last weekend, another mentally unstable young man went on a shooting rampage, taking 7 lives including his own. The father of one of the victims speaks out:

I find this father's grief very distressing, not merely because he lost his twenty-year-old son whom he clearly loved, but because this was something that could have been avoided, by having more stringent gun controls.

The mentally ill killer should never have been sold not one, but three guns which he had in his possession and rounds of ammunition - which could have done far more harm that he actually managed.

Many countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom have amended their laws to allow for stricter regulations and limited gun ownership after tragedies involving guns.

But not the United States of America.

Oh no. The gun lobby in the land of the free is powerful and demanding. They do not yield an inch. They refuse to budge.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, 7,145 people have been injured by gun violence in America and 4,123 have been killed since Jan. 1, 2014. That number includes 14 police officers killed, 447 children injured or killed and 331 instances of defensive gun use.

And yet, America continues to go about its way, seemingly oblivious to the obvious danger that guns pose.

All thanks to the gun lobby, the National Rifle Association or the NRA, who repeatedly quote the second amendment of the US Constitution which protects the right of individuals to keep and bear arms and angrily voice their dissatisfaction when gun control measures are proposed.

Sunday, 27 April 2014

The lack of transparency in TPPA negotiation process makes a mockery of Obama’s avowed commitment to open government.

By Kua Kia Soong

The main purpose of US President Barack Obama’s visit to Malaysia is to try and speed the signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) that is so critical to US capitalism in its effort to check the growth of China’s trade relations in the region.

The fact that the contents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership are kept under such tight wraps should make us suspicious of its impact on our lives.

Even members of the Congress are not privy to the text of the draft agreement. This is because the agreement is more than just a trade deal; it also imposes parameters on non-trade policies and even US laws must be altered to conform with these new terms, or trade sanctions can be imposed against American exports.

The agreement, under negotiation since 2008, set new rules for everything from food safety and financial markets to medicine prices and Internet freedom, requiring countries to maintain compatible regulatory regimes; facilitate corporate financial transactions; establish copyright and patent protections to govern intellectual property rights and to safeguard foreign investors.

True to US capitalism, only a privileged class of trade “advisers,” dominated by representatives of big businesses, enjoy access to draft texts and negotiators.

Under the agreement, pharmaceutical companies, which are among those enjoying access to negotiators as “advisers,” could challenge measures to make generic drugs economical by claiming that they undermined their new rights granted by the deal.

The agreement would also water down regulations put in place after the 2008 financial crisis and it would practically forbid bans on risky financial products, including the toxic derivatives that contributed to the crisis in the first place.

The reason the TPPA negotiations are wrapped in secrecy is because Obama wants the agreement to be given fast-track treatment before Congress votes on it. The eventual vote in Congress will be short and swift by all accounts.

Monday, 17 March 2014

I was going to avoid blogging about this MH370 fiasco because it is a difficult situation to handle -- for any authority, be they some third world country or a purportedly developed nation (the kind that spies on its citizens but has atrociously third world banking technology).

But three things have annoyed me. Firstly, the Malaysian government has shamed itself and the nation by insinuating that the Captain of the ill-fated MH370 was an extremist for being a life-long member of PKR and a supporter of Anwar Ibrahim.

Now, I'm not Anwar Ibrahim's biggest fan, but with regards to Captain Zaharie, I believe that anyone who stands up for democracy and wants the best for his country is a man to be admired.

Unfortunately, this insinuation was picked up by a trio of pubic lice -- who probably regard themselves as 'journalists' -- for the Daily Mail.

Now, if you have ever been to the UK or are familiar with that trashy rag, you would know that it is read by the mentally deficient, those on unemployment benefits who believe the UK is overrun by immigrants but are too lazy to get off their butts and work for a living, and other random losers.

Still, it has managed to infiltrate the news circle of other serious journalists who are now calling Captain Zaharie's integrity into question. This really annoys me.

Interestingly, these are feel good moments despite the gloom surrounding the disappearance of this aircraft that Malaysians do have best friends of other races. Peter Chong was Captain Zaharie's best friend.

The third thing that bothers me is some fool from CNN called Jake Tapper who has a smug, slappable, babboon-like face who says, "Who would want to do this, to this part of the world, to this country, and who would be capable of such a thing?"

It's not what he's saying that is annoying, but how he says it.

I have a message for Jake Tapper:

Listen up, you dumb fuck. Your country, the one with crappy-banking-technology-but-superb-spying-skills-on-its-own-citizens (and ludicrously expensive healthcare) is not the only thing that is worthwhile in this world.

While you had your head buried in a hole or possibly trying to deal with the general incompetencies of your nation, other countries have emerged as economic leaders in their own right.

I don't expect you as an American to be able to comprehend that, as you probably have an IQ of 90 or 95, but it would be much appreciated if you could shut that flapping trap that sits on the front of your face and lubricates your jaws with saliva.

"Where did this research come from?" you ask, somewhat suspicious (and with good reason).

Now I regret to inform you, dear readers, that I am not able to provide you with that information because I have no idea. I don't think ISMA have any idea themselves.

However, I can offer a bit of research on civilisations myself, based on what I have read and what is widely believed by scholars based on archeological findings. Take this map from Washington Post for example.

Click to enlarge

First things first: The world as we know it,started in Africa. Humans migrated from there to different parts of the world.

The map above shows the migratory patterns of how humans got to where they eventually lived and were found.

To suggest, as ISMA did, that Malay civilisation existed before even Angkor Wat is ridiculous.

It is possible for a Malay civilisation to have begun before Borobudur because the Indonesians would have had to pass through Malaya before getting to Indonesia and starting theirs, assuming they travelled by land.

However, there is no evidence of this Malay civilisation existing so long ago. Not in Melaka (as the history books crow about) or even in Kedah.

On the contrary, there is was plenty of evidence of Hindu civilisation even as far down as in Kedah, but the government has been anxious to destroy them. Extracts from the article:

A housing developer has demolished several temples sites, including an 8th century heritage site, in Bujang Valley, Kedah, and the authorities are not taking any action to stop the act...

...several ancient temples, called Candi, had been demolished in the last few years to make way for development ... the developer had now demolished the most famous 8th century temple remnants known as Candi Sungai Batu estate or Bujang Valley site 11.

The Malaysian government calmly destroy 8th century temples while the Europeans devotedly restore and protect their 16th and 17th century building and artifacts.

Yes, Malaysia outdoes itself in madness.

But they obviously have reason for destroying evidence: so that they can come out with ridiculous claims to support their assertion that they own Malaysia/Malaya and have the right to do whatever they want and invoke whatever privilege they can think of.

Sunday, 16 February 2014

Helen Ang has kick-started a very interesting (at least to me) topic about the plight of Malaysian Indians.

It all started out because an FMT reporter had a go at Waytha Moorthy, the chairman of HINDRAF or Human Rights Party.

To be fair, I am not impressed by how Narinder Singh manages to come off sounding patronising and condescending, by calling Waytha a waterboy and the "sole Indian fool" in the PM's Office.

A waterboy is someone who plays a small and perhaps somewhat insignificant role in fetching water for the "real" athletes -- the big boys who make a difference; who clinch the game. Urban Dictionary even defines a waterboy as an utter failure.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't think Waytha is a resounding success either. But I know what his game plan is. He has been trying to convince Pakatan Rakyat to do more for the marginalised Indian community.

However, much to his disgust (and mine), Pakatan Rakyat is more interested in fishing for votes than coming up with solid policies for the downtrodden and marginalised of Malaysian society.

So Waytha made good on his threat of moving over to BN, should they offer something better than what Pakatan Rakyat could come up with, which to begin with, was insignificant. Unfortunately, as I predicted, BN was offering up empty promises.

I suspect Waytha has had enough and consequently thrown in the towel; resigning from his post as minister in the PM's Office.

When I saw this question, I just had to jump to the comments section, because I knew there would be at least one brilliant armchair critic who would prescribe that the rich Indians should help the poor Indians.

This is ironic, especially when it comes from a Malay, because if one were to say, "Why don't we stop having ANY bumiputra privileges. Let the rich Malays help the poor Malays," they would be all up in arms and bleating, "Don't play with fire!!"

Translated: If the responsibility of helping the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Iban, Kadazan, Sikh etc falls on the government, what exactly are "Samy Vellu, Tony Fernades, Ambiga, Ananda K" doing to help the Indians?

Now bringing Samy Vellu into the picture may be relevant as he was meant to represent the Indians. But why on earth would two businessmen and a lawyer be involved when they are largely private citizens and in no way holding public office? They are not responsible for anyone but their own businesses and families, and anyone who says otherwise merely brings scorn on themselves.

This ignorant comment came from someone who claims to be a teacher and I shudder to think what our youth are being imbued with, under the guise of education.

The funny thing is when the crime rate goes skyrocketing and just about every other person has a story about how they got mugged or knew someone who did, then Malaysians have no one but themselves to blame.

If you systematically marginalise an entire community, you breed resentment. You break their self esteem and motivation. And when they have no motivation, they put in no effort whatsoever to better themselves.

They turn to crime as a way out of their predicament.

It is not the job of a wealthy Indian to employ or feed a poor, marginalised Indian. It is the responsibility of the government.

Thursday, 13 February 2014

As with every other country in the world, the political scene in Malaysia is deteriorating into mayhem.

Some even call it a circus:

The current state of political discussion in Malaysia is becoming a "circus", and there is a real need to bring the political discourse back to pertinent issues related to living costs and economic hardship, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) said today.

Its Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar said that the issues dominating the political scene - raised by both sides of the political divide, including the Kajang by-election, were not essential for the people.

I personally find that analogy a little optimistic, given that the lion-tamer in the circus usually has the lion under control.

A zoo, on the other hand, allows the creatures some leeway. There is an essence of unpredictability.

And frankly, a pride of lions could play a more useful role in disposing of unwanted politicians.

Friday, 31 January 2014

It's probably a very good thing that I don't live in Kajang because I would be up in arms and baying for blood.

I was first alerted to this fiasco by a friend on Facebook.

"Here we go again," he complained as he attached a link.

Another friend commented cynically, "Let the games begin."

So the games are being played out, from a plot that has been long hatched.

In spite of the huge costs that this move is going to incur, PKR appears to regard its internal politics as being paramount to all other internal issues.

The Kajang assemblyman was merely an obedient little ma chai who chose to risk the wrath of his constituents than go against the forces behind PKR.

This is a tiny but significant clue as to how powerful a small, select group is within this party.

The excuse is that the political games by UMNO will be stepped up soon and therefore, invoking the necessity to raise Anwar Ibrahim to the post of MB, while at the same time toppling the man who has an exemplary track record, fairly decent management skills and capability in leading the State of Selangor.

Khalid Ibrahim's only "weakness" lies in his inability to get along with Azmin Ali, who unfortunately happens to be Anwar's blue-eyed boy. I must admit that his is a weakness shared by many -- Azmin Ali has a sizeable number of enemies.

So Khalid Ibrahim is being forced out at the behest of someone's political ambitions: possibly Azmin Ali, and not for the first time, Anwar Ibrahim's.

I just see red when I hear how they attempt to spin it, especially Rafizi Ramli who has volunteered himself for the blame (given his high popularity ratings, he thinks he will escape unscathed but is going to be skewered eventually):

Good political leaders will never be popular. It pains me that we have to drag Anwar Ibrahim through this and subject him to public anger, yet his willingness to be a part of the bigger picture is the mark of the man.

Now this man is no martyr. Sure, he may have suffered at the hands of The Loony Tun and the police, and his reputation may have taken a bashing, but that is the extent of his torment.

In all other respects, he is a classic back-door man -- unscrupulously manipulative in his personal quest to become Premier.

It angers me that I have been subject to chemicals from tear gas and water cannons when I have put my neck on the line at street protests and demonstrations to get the Opposition in power. That has yet to happen, and possibly for good reason.

It is entirely possible now that Kajang might be tempted to teach Anwar Ibrahim and the rest of his minions at PKR a lesson by voting for someone else. I only hope that some other party from the Opposition (like PSM) fields a candidate.

In 1964, Zinn accepted a position at Boston University, after writing two books and participating in the Civil Rights Movement in the South.

His classes in civil liberties were among the most popular at the university with as many as 400 students subscribing each semester to the non-required class. A professor of political science, he taught at BU for 24 years and retired in 1988 at age 64.

"He had a deep sense of fairness and justice for the underdog. But he always kept his sense of humor. He was a happy warrior," said Caryl Rivers, journalism professor at Boston University.

Rivers and Zinn were among a group of faculty members who in 1979 defended the right of the school's clerical workers to strike and were threatened with dismissal after refusing to cross a picket line.

No one could bully Zinn. He had a mind of his own and he used it to inspire progressive young minds.

He saw laws for what they were. He understood that they could be manipulated. He knew that constitutional law -- and freedom of speech, in particular -- was and is a very difficult, ambiguous, troubled concept.

He exhorted his fellow human beings not to be limited and paralyzed by them. And he spoke out against civil obedience, the act of merely bowing to authority without questioning if it was wrong or right.

And our topic is topsy-turvy: civil disobedience. As soon as you say the topic is civil disobedience, you are saying our problem is civil disobedience. That is not our problem.... Our problem is civil obedience.

Our problem is the numbers of people all over the world who have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. And our problem is that scene in All Quiet on the Western Front where the schoolboys march off dutifully in a line to war.

Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world, in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war and cruelty.

Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem.

We recognize this for Nazi Germany. We know that the problem there was obedience, that the people obeyed Hitler. People obeyed; that was wrong. They should have challenged, and they should have resisted; and if we were only there, we would have showed them.

Even in Stalin's Russia we can understand that; people are obedient, all these herd-like people.

My countrymen: do not be cowed, or fooled or intimidated by the force of power and authority. Stand up and be counted.